Gears 5 can finally be enjoyed on Steam Deck with no anti-cheat workarounds

Gears 5 Xbox Series S

What you need to know

• Players of Gears 5 on the Steam Deck should now be able to do so finally with no woes or workarounds required for its anti-cheat software. 
• The latest version of Proton GE, a customized version of Valve's own Proton has specific fixes added to address EAC on Gears 5. 
• It takes only a few minutes to install for hours of endless Gears 5 fun. 

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It's always exciting being a Steam Deck gamer and today is no exception, especially if you're into Gears 5. Because there's now a way to play the game without having to implement any workarounds for the EAC anti-cheat. 

EAC is supported in Linux and on the Steam Deck, so this isn't a mad hack or anything, but as spotted by GamingonLinux, the latest update to Proton GE, a customized version of Valve's own Proton, has some tasty fixes for Gears 5 on the Steam Deck. 

• Gears 5 now works with EAC without any workarounds needed. If you previously used proton-ge to play, go into the game folder and remove these folders:

/GearGame/Binaries/Steam/EasyAntiCheat-backup /Engine/Binaries/ThirdParty/GFSDK_Aftermath

Then verify the integrity of the game files so that it re-downloads the originals.

You will of course need to be in desktop mode to delete these folders if you'd previously been using Proton GE with Gears 5. 

Another good news day for Steam Deck owners. (Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)

The Gears fixes were actually part of Proton GE 8-5 but there has since been a newer version, 8-6, pushed out with a hotfix for Final Fantasy XIV as well. Proton GE is not natively part of the Steam Deck, it's built by long standing community member, GloriousEggroll, who by day is a Red Hat engineer. 

So, how do you get it? It's pretty easy, as it happens. 

On your Steam Deck you'll want to flip over to desktop mode, open the Discover store and search for an app called ProtonUp-Qt. Once installed, open it up and make sure that Steam is selected from the dropdown box at the top. 

Hit Add version then make sure Proton GE is selected from the top box. In the one below, choose Proton GE 8-5 or 8-6 and hit Install. It'll only take a minute and when it's done you can close the app. Then quit out of Steam while you're on the desktop to reload the compatibility list and go back to the handheld UI mode. 

Now you can select Proton GE as the compatibility tool by opening the Properties menu for Gears 5 in your Steam library. And away you go!